A Poor State

Abstract

One of the duties of the state in a poor country should be to help raise the productivity of the poorest earners. The poorest earners were the peasants, the agricultural workers, oppressed castes, and the women among these groups. In many respects, the Raj had a more modern form of government than previous Indian regimes. But it spent little on those heads that would make a real difference to the poorest earners. Why did it fail in this duty?